A/78/207 36. Health care is also profoundly interconnected with a range of human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief. Religious or belief minorities and indigenous peoples may experience obstacles in gaining access to health care arising from discriminatory budgeting, a resulting lack of infrastructure and care facilities and/or prejudice among health-care providers and affecting the quality of care that they receive. 33 Pastoral services may also be denied or unavailable to certain religion or belief groups. 34 Particular care is needed in mental health settings to ensure that there is no prejudicial application of existing criteria for intervening in the forum internum in psychiatric care through technologies and treatments. 35 37. Religiously motivated policies of or actions by authorities, health -care providers or medical professionals, such as “conscientious objection”, may affect access for individuals on the basis of their perceived gender identity or sexual orientation. 36 Autonomy of religious institutions and conscientious objection are highly important aspects of freedom of religion or belief, but they are not absolute. States must ensure that health-care services are provided in a non-discriminatory manner and that access to sexual and reproductive care is upheld. 37 38. In the sphere of employment, access to work in public service is, at times, denied outright to adherents of minority religions or beliefs; at other times, dangerous and poorly paid jobs are reportedly advertised by State authorities as being available only to persons of minority religions. 38 This situation not only exposes marginalized groups to precarious work, but also contributes to their ongoing stigmatization. 39. The prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion or belief with regard to economic, social and cultural rights as underlined in numerous general comments of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 39 must be upheld. The Human Rights Committee has also emphasized that even the recognition of a State religion should not result in “any impairment of the enjoyment of any of the rights under the Covenant”, nor in “any discrimination against adherents of other religions or non-believers”. 40 40. States are under an immediate obligation to eliminate discrimination based on religion or belief in the realization of economic, social and cultural rights and should recognize their positive obligations in that sphere. E. Law enforcement and public prosecutors 41. Law enforcement officials and public prosecutors are often the first recourse for individuals subjected to violence, harassment, intimidation or other criminal acts based on their actual or perceived religion or belief. Law enforcement officials must take positive steps to protect individuals or groups from such acts and to identify and __________________ 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 23-14116 Marie Juul Petersen “Freedom of religion or belief and health”, Leaving No One Behind Briefing Paper No. 2 (Danish Institute of Human Rights, September 2021), p. 6; and World Health Organization, Social Determinants Approaches to Public Health: From Concept to Practice, Erik Blas, Johannes Sommerfeld and Anand Sivasankara Kurup, eds. (Geneva, 2011), p. 17. Submission provided by Humanists UK. See A/76/380. A/HRC/43/48, paras. 43 and 44. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 36 (2018), para. 8. Submissions provided by the Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement and Minority Rights Group. General comments No. 12 (1999), para. 18, No. 13 (1999), para. 28, No. 14 (2000), para. 18, No. 15 (2002), para. 13, No. 16 (2005), paras. 5, 10, and 31, No. 17 (2005), paras. 19 and 33, No. 19 (2007), para. 29, No. 20 (2009), para. 22, No. 22 (2016), para. 30, No. 23 (2016), para. 65, and No. 25 (2020), para 25. General comment No. 22 (1993), para. 9. 9/24